Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Green Action Plan for SMEs and Green Employment Initiative
Date: 2015-02-12
Institutions: Commission for Economic and Social Policy, European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: action programme, aid to undertakings, clean technology, competitiveness, economic growth, innovation, processing industry, productivity, renewable energy, small and medium-sized enterprises, sustainable development








C_2015140EN.01002201.xml










28.4.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 140/22





Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Green Action Plan for SMEs and Green Employment Initiative
(2015/C 140/05)













Rapporteur



:


Satu Tietari (FI/ALDE), Member of Säkylä Municipal Council





Reference documents



:


Communication on a Green Action Plan for SMEs
COM(2014) 440 final
Communication on a Green Employment Initiative
COM(2014) 446 final








I.   POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS








1.


In recent years, the term ‘green’ has gained an increasingly prominent place in policy-making, as environmental concerns have become horizontal and overarching. The Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth has identified as essential the transition towards a green, low-carbon, and resource-efficient economic model.












2.


One of the central themes of these two communications is the concept of the ‘green economy’, which is defined as a model that ‘secures growth and development, safeguards human health and wellbeing, provides decent jobs, reduces inequalities and invests in, and preserves, biodiversity, including the natural capital it provides, for its intrinsic value and for its essential contribution to human well-being and economic prosperity’ (1).












3.


The move to a green economy will have a direct impact on the competitiveness of both individual businesses and the European economy as a whole. Resources are becoming scarce. Consumption is growing in more and more areas and we are reaching our environmental limits. A timely transition to a green economy in the EU is not only desirable but essential to preserving and strengthening competitiveness and prosperity within as short a timeframe as possible.












4.


endorses the Commission's communications on a Green Action Plan for SMEs and a Green Employment Initiative;












5.


shares the Commission's view, expressed in both communications, that a successful transition to a green economy is a crucial factor in the present and future competitiveness of the European Union;












6.


underlines the pivotal role played by the public sector and local and regional authorities in facilitating the transition to a green economy; public authorities, as well as promoting the transition to a green economy, should be a model and point of reference in the implementation of projects, programmes, legislation, procurement and job creation in the context of a new green economy paradigm;












7.


believes that it is vitally important to continue efforts to promote the green competitiveness of SMEs by improving access to finance, providing more information, simplifying legislation, cutting red tape and strengthening a green business culture;












8.


endorses the aim of the Green Employment Initiative to make employment and environmental policies work together in support of the move to a competitive, green, and resource-efficient economy;












9.


stresses that the issue of skills is particularly relevant to young people, who still suffer from a cripplingly high unemployment rate of more than 22 %, and should be better prepared for the jobs of tomorrow in general, and green jobs in particular;












10.


shares the Commission's view of the necessity to review and update training and education curricula as well as qualifications systems in order to facilitate the transition to a green economy;












11.


points out that businesses differ from one another considerably: some already provide green products and services, while those offering more traditional services and products can also benefit, for example by using more environmentally friendly energy sources and raw materials;






Basic definitions










12.


feels that environmental challenges should be seen as both an opportunity and a threat to individual businesses, their employees, labour markets and the EU;












13.


believes that the basic terms and figures and the starting point for the green economy should be clarified and defined such that the terms and figures are mutually agreed, consistent and unambiguous;












14.


believes that a successful transition to a green economy is crucial for the EU's current and future competiveness, which is why it is vital to ensure consistency in the use of terms;












15.


underlines the regional dimension of the transition to a green economy, and the key role played by local and regional authorities in education, infrastructure, supporting local businesses and creating employment services; equally, draws attention to local green initiatives, which can serve as an example for other EU regions;












16.


highlights the diversity of circumstances and challenges faced at the local level, and requests that the exceptional circumstances of regions be taken into account in terms of greening the economy;












17.


underlines that a successful green economy will have five key elements: 1) reduction, which means that the consumption of raw materials and energy use need to come down across the board; 2) use of clean energies, in order to avoid external dependence, cut emissions and create jobs; 3) efficiency, which means that raw materials and energy have to be used more effectively across a product's or service's entire value chain; 4) networking and sharing of best practice; comparing notes between Member States and sectors provides an opportunity to boost the supply of green products and services, including to markets outside the EU; and 5) access to finance, which is to say that it is crucial to ensure that finance is available and to cut red tape; applications for funding should be simple, easy to understand and also useful in other areas of business;






Objective










18.


stresses that, at the time of assessment, there are significant differences within the EU's internal market between sectors and Member States when it comes to resource efficiency, and calls for steps to be taken to boost resource efficiency by sharing examples of best practice and failure;












19.


highlights the importance of local and regional authorities, in particular municipalities, in the implementation of the measures referred to in the previous point, looking at whether these measures should be funded under the current community framework;












20.


believes that efforts to improve resource efficiency should be taken into account at all stages of the value chain, that doing so would significantly reduce the need for raw materials, and that a value chain-based approach should be integrated into the activities of both the public and private sectors;












21.


feels that the Green Action Plan should focus on European-level measures aimed at aligning and reinforcing existing green initiatives used to support SMEs at national and regional level;












22.


notes the emphasis on renewable energy and biofuels, where the EU has sufficient information, know-how and technology, calls for the dismantling of barriers to development in order to be able to generate a large number of high-quality skilled green jobs, and supports RDI in this sector;












23.


underlines the importance of green thinking and the increasing prevalence of EU origin labelling across Member States;












24.


approves of the European Commission's objective of setting up a European Resource Efficiency Excellence Centre in 2015 and of connecting it to a partnership network in all European regions, but calls on the Commission to clarify, with respect to this platform, who these partners will be and how they will be chosen;












25.


also underlines the need to involve local and regional authorities in this process, as they are best placed to understand the specific circumstances and challenges at local and regional level, and to assess who the most relevant local stakeholders are. In this connection, steps should be taken to promote the mapping process for identifying the specific potential of each region able to assist local operators in the identification of investment clusters, measures for self-employment support and training course creation and specialisation in various aspects of the green economy;












26.


considers it necessary to set targets for environmentally responsible product design and calls for greater environmental responsibility from businesses;






Vision










27.


underlines that the expertise and skills required in greening the economy should be available to all in the different Member States with respect to the key issues, and that steps should be taken to ensure an adequate level of know-how at local level;












28.


calls for efforts to be made to further propagate the principle of life-long learning; a key factor is mastering new information, since the green economy will require changes and transparent action with respect to all parts of the value chain process;












29.


underlines that, currently, work and skills do not sufficiently match and systemic change is slow; the Commission's ESCO project is a good example of an attempt to match employers with employees who are qualified for the role; for further proposals on work and skills match, the CoR refers to its opinion on EU Quality Framework for anticipation of change and restructuring (2);












30.


stresses that the green economy will entail the transition to a circular low-carbon economy, which will create new and innovative jobs. This means that old workplaces will be replaced by new ones and occupational profiles will have to be redefined;












31.


calls for broader cooperation between authorities, SMEs, associations and educational institutions to be encouraged, since mastering new types of information will require better targeting and coordination of measures and financing instruments;












32.


highlights the importance of research and development technology (R&DT) as a way of providing impetus for implementation of the green economy, using the current European envelope to promote the involvement of universities, SMEs and other local and regional bodies, coordinated as key pillars of knowledge (education, research and innovation) within synergy-generating formations such as clusters or open innovation platforms for the sharing and cross-fertilisation of knowledge;












33.


calls for local and regional authorities, in light of the important expertise and powers they have in this area, to be fully involved in coordination measures. Good examples already exist of partnerships by local authorities being used to provide businesses and associations with advice on energy issues, including how to identify subsidies and financing possibilities, recommendations on individual measures, putting together an overview of who the equipment and service suppliers are, and assistance with preparing calls for tender;






Strategy










34.


shares the Commission's view of the necessity to review and update training and education curricula as well as qualifications systems in close cooperation with the Member States and local and regional authorities in order to take into account and facilitate the transition to a green economy, and suggests that education and training courses across the board start to include at least one module on this subject. Steps should also be taken to examine how the impact of training is monitored, since there is a need for long-term monitoring carried out at both a higher and a lower level;












35.


expresses concern about the adequacy, predictability and level of training related to the green economy and green skills in different Member States. It is crucial to ensure that training courses are created in the Member States that cover environmental, legal and business know-how, which should also ensure that officials have sufficient data and skills;












36.


stresses that the issue of new skills is particularly relevant to young people, who should be better prepared for the jobs of tomorrow, and green jobs in particular;












37.


underlines the need for a broader perspective and to take into account long-term impact so that environmental skills can be combined with solid business know-how. An environmentally-friendly and business-friendly mindset should already be inculcated at school, since new professions will require natural sciences as well as technical and mathematical skills. This awareness-raising must also be given special prominence in adult education programmes;












38.


is concerned that few SMEs in Europe are aware of the possibility of using resources more efficiently, or of the economic benefits they could gain by using this knowledge in practice;












39.


suggests that positive discrimination mechanisms be put in place by those local, regional and national authorities that have fiscal powers to the benefit of firms which implement green economy principles and concepts, in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility, including lower levies and taxes, public procurement and tax deductions;












40.


calls for information about training and financing opportunities to be tailored to SMEs in different sectors, since they do not necessarily appreciate the need for training associated with the green economy;












41.


calls for incentives to be put in place to complete skills, since it is essential to acquire new information and know-how. It should be understood how all recyclable materials can be used further and turned into new and innovative materials, and what the rules and requirements are;












42.


notes that raw material costs have increased in 75 % of EU SMEs over a five-year period, and that measures trialling new methods and their systematic dissemination are needed quickly in order to protect businesses' competitiveness;












43.


recommends that different sectors study further the opportunities for cooperating more, as well as opportunities to exploit each other's service expertise, products or their components. This will provide business opportunities to small businesses in particular, which could form larger entities by networking. Examples should be collected, and best practice disseminated in the Member States;












44.


recommends that every opportunity be studied for helping SMEs reintroduce used and surplus raw materials in their own production and value chains, or even as part of another business's production. One example of this is a closed circulation energy concept tailored to local circumstances, in which waste, lost energy, heat, nutrients and CO2 are used and recycled back into energy and food production;












45.


notes the need to encourage business cooperation between the organic food sector and other potentially linked sectors: restaurants and catering, rural tourism, agritourism, ecotourism, sustainable and/or craft packaging, sustainable construction, traditional food production etc.












46.


recommends that an awareness-raising campaign on sustainable development be directed towards the EU public, underlining the opportunities open to everyone to personally influence the amount and treatment of waste;












47.


notes that local authorities have a crucial role to play in achieving the EU's emission targets. A good example is the Finnish project ‘Kohti hiilineutraalia kuntaa’ (‘Towards a carbon-neutral town’), the aim of which is to commit local players — the local council, residents and business — to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The project is meant to identify new and innovative approaches that create local jobs, and which are based on sustainable use of local natural resources and greater energy efficiency;












48.


recommends that sharing economy and service economy concepts be developed in which, in place of traditional ownership, consumers could buy products as a service and return them at the end of their lifecycles to the producer for re-use;












49.


recommends that better calculating methods be developed that provide a more reliable measurement of energy consumption;












50.


understands that creating environmentally friendly yet commercially successful products will require significant financial investment in both product development and launching and registering the products and services generated by product development. In future, legislation will have to be able to provide an opportunity for rapid development of new innovations, rather than restrict or limit it;












51.


suggests that the use of environmental management systems be promoted, especially the European EMAS scheme, with the aim of embedding environmental culture in business decision-making, thus improving its effectiveness and public information on environmental conduct;






Effects










52.


shares the Commission's view that Member States could also lower the cost of labour by using auctioning revenues from the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), but stresses that the ETS in its current form is not fully effective;












53.


welcomes the initiative's emphasis on the promotion of entrepreneurship, and reiterates its view that Europe should present entrepreneurship to young people as a possible and promising future career path;












54.


considers that, alongside the green economy, social entrepreneurship can be seen as a valuable alternative to traditional ways of doing business in both for-profit and non-profit forms; and welcomes, in this respect, the Commission's desire to facilitate access to finance for social businesses;












55.


feels that through innovation and the redesign of products and of production and business models, companies could reduce the use of expensive primary raw materials and reduce waste;












56.


believes that introducing a uniform European green economy certification system would be beneficial to business in particular, and in the long term would provide predictability and legal certainty, since legal interpretations of a range of different areas of legal conflict would be known in advance;












57.


notes that raw materials, water and energy represent 50 % of businesses' total manufacturing costs (3). Reducing this excessive burden on businesses' costs by reviewing energy production, transport and distribution systems and increasing resource and energy efficiency in any way can therefore yield very significant savings. This is all the more topical given the increase in the cost of energy and many raw materials in recent years;












58.


recommends that local and regional-level operators be informed in a targeted way about the potential of sources of finance for the 2014-2020 programming period and that this funding be used to help ‘green’ SMEs, examples of which include the ERDF, the ESF, the EAFRD, the LIFE programme, the Natural Capital Financing Facility, the Private Financing for Energy Efficiency Instrument, COSME and Horizon 2020;












59.


raises the issue of moving towards environmental taxes and charges as instruments to promote shared environmental responsibility, which, according to the Commission, are less detrimental to growth and would result in both better environmental performance and higher employment. Member States that have tried environmental taxes could share their experiences more widely, and other Member States could follow this;












60.


points out that the Commission and the Member States have developed applicable indicators and tools to allow for a more thorough understanding of EU, national and regional labour markets. To achieve impact, Member States should make use of harmonised EU modules in implementation and when transferring data;












61.


reiterates its observation that a business-friendly environment requires public authorities to invest in high quality infrastructure in the areas of transport and digital technology, among others, and that they will need support from the European Union if they are to achieve this;












62.


understands that SMEs lack knowledge, networks and IT skills, which is why they have difficulty seizing the opportunities provided by waste prevention and reuse of products, raw materials and waste as part of various value chains;












63.


underlines that steep initial investment costs may further reduce interest in implementing business activities related to reusing and recycling resources, since SMEs have to judge that the activities are commercially viable. Consequently, tax and legislative measures, and other types of support measure, should be taken to reduce their impact;












64.


believes that green standards that respect biodiversity and promote climate change mitigation and adaptation policies need to be adopted more widely and disseminated across Member States, and that regular communication with consumers is required to this end;












65.


recognises that the principles encapsulated by EU-level green economy standards should be anchored in all SME activities, but it is also critically important to get the end users of the products, i.e. consumers, to buy products certified as environmentally responsible;












66.


points out that a greener value chain, which involves re-manufacturing, repair, maintenance, recycling and eco-design, can provide considerable business opportunities for many SMEs, but legislative, institutional, technical and cultural barriers prevent SMEs from taking advantage of this, and these barriers should be removed or, if this is impossible, ways must be found of overcoming them.





Brussels, 12 February 2015.


The President of the European Committee of the Regions

Markku MARKKULA




(1)  Definition from Decision No 1386/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2020 ‘Living well, within the limits of our planet’. OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 171-200.

(2)  (CDR 1319/2014).

(3)  Europe INNOVA (2012) Guide to resource efficiency in manufacturing: Experiences from improving resource efficiency in manufacturing companies, p. 6. Available here.